


If I Was to Fall

by banditess



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Human!Umbra, Hurt/Comfort, Like...literally, M/M, Master/Pet, Spooning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-29 06:33:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11435160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/banditess/pseuds/banditess
Summary: For Day 6 of FFXV Rare Pair Week: SpooningAfter the events of Altissia, Noct is fighting with his friends and in need of some love. It comes to him in a form he isn't expecting...





	If I Was to Fall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nickofhearts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nickofhearts/gifts).



> I blame this entirely on [nickofhearts](http://archiveofourown.org/users/nickofhearts), and on Square Enix releasing those Versus XIII storyboards with Human!Umbra, and the subsequent flood of amazing Noct/Umbra fanart that has come out of it...y'all the real MVPs.
> 
> The title of the fic is from the [John Maus song "Hey Moon,"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av5Jb52yFBo) which I recommend listening to while reading ♥
> 
> Enjoy!!

In the end, it isn’t Prompto or Ignis who comforts Noctis most successfully after Luna’s death in Altissia -- and it _certainly_ isn’t Gladio. In fact, the one who shows him the most compassion, the most unconditional love in his time of need is the one companion he never even considered asking for support. Mostly because he didn’t know Umbra could actually speak.  
  
Alone in his berth in the sleeper car, Noct lies in fetal position, wracked by heaving sobs. He’s already snapped at his friends and been snapped at by them in turn, and he can’t bear anymore. All he wants is...What _does_ he want, really? He so desperately doesn’t want to be alone -- the silence is _awful_ , like knives in his gut -- but he’s made a fucking mess of everything. His friends probably don’t want to even see his face for another week. He wouldn’t blame them, after the things he said in anger. He didn’t even mean it...  
  
Noct hears a shuffling noise in the berth and snaps to attention, summoning a dagger to take care of whatever’s invaded his space.  
  
“Oh,” Noct sniffles as he breathes a sigh of relief, wiping the tears from his face. He lets his dagger crystallize and fade away. “It’s just you, Umbra.”  
  
The black dog sits calmly beside the bed, tongue lolling happily.  
  
“I’m...actually kinda glad you’re here,” Noctis looks at his boots, then back at Umbra. He smiles thinly and holds out his hand. “Gimme some paw?”  
  
Umbra places his paw in Noct’s hand, but Noct immediately notices that it feels strange. It’s heavier than normal, and less calloused, and -- are those... _fingers_? They _are_ fingers. Which are attached to an _arm_. The arm is attached to a _body_ , lithe and lean in a black hooded coat, with slim shoulders, and long legs set in a kneeling position. Noct finds himself looking at a man’s face, maybe slightly older than Gladio, and into golden-yellow eyes framed by long, shaggy, silvery-white hair. A lengthy scar cuts across the pale man’s face, at the bridge of his nose, from one cheek to the other.  
  
_Huh. Exactly where Umbra’s markings are--_  
  
“Holy shit. _Umbra_?” says Noct.  
  
“Yes, Master,” the man -- _Umbra_ \-- replies. His voice is like the reflection of the moon on still water.  
  
“I...didn’t know you could do that.” Noctis lets go of Umbra’s... _hand_. “I thought you were just a dog.”  
  
“I know many tricks, Master.”  
  
Noct smirks at that, then sighs and leans back against the berth wall. The train chugs along, the scenery chugging along with it.  
  
“Master?” Umbra continues to kneel, but scoots closer to the edge of Noct’s berth. “Your... _spirit_ feels very low. Is it because of Lady Lunafreya?”  
  
Noct practically snarls at Umbra, his eyes glowing red. “What would _you_ know about what I’m feeling?!”  
  
Noctis immediately tenses as soon as the words leave his mouth. He doesn’t mean to lash out ( _again_ ), but just hearing _Lunafreya_ makes his heart feel like it’s being torn from his chest through a shattered ribcage.  
  
Umbra makes a whining, sighing noise, which, while not out of place for a canine, sounds a bit strange coming from a human. He looks out the window at the sky rushing by.  
  
“I too have lost my companion. Pryna has followed Lady Lunafreya to the Beyond. I am...alone.”  
  
Noct imagines his torn-out heart has been tossed out the window of the speeding train and run over by a passing car. Pryna was gone too? Maybe he _did_ know how Noct was feeling. He looks away as the guilt of his earlier outburst settles in.  
  
“Gods, Umbra...I’m sorry.”  
  
“Please, do not apologize, Master. We will meet again in the Beyond. It is only…no, it is nothing.” He bows his head.  
  
“What?” Noct leans forward. “It’s ok, you can tell me.”  
  
Umbra raises his head slightly, looking sheepish. “Pryna and I...We often slept close to one another. To share warmth, and strengthen our connection. Perhaps, Master and I might benefit from doing the same.”  
  
Had Umbra still been a dog, Noctis wouldn’t have hesitated to invite the pup to curl up next to him. As a human, though, it’s a _bit_ more awkward -- particularly since Noct can see that human-Umbra is quite a bit taller than he is. He’ll definitely take up more room in the berth. But there’s a pulling feeling in his chest...  
  
“Alright,” Noctis says, lying down, scooting over, and patting the bed. “Come on up.”  
  
Umbra grins, his whole face lighting up. He puts both hands on the mattress and pushes off of the floor with both feet to hop up, moving as though he is still four-legged. He yelps softly as he knocks the top of his head against the bottom of the bunk above, then ducks down. Noct grimaces in sympathy and reaches up to touch Umbra’s forehead. Umbra leans into his touch, nuzzling against Noct’s hand, setting butterflies loose in Noct’s stomach. Suddenly, Umbra pulls away and starts to curl up at Noct’s feet, folding himself into the space and closing his eyes like, well, a dog.  
  
Noctis frowns and leans back on his elbows. He cocks his head to the side, confused. “Uh, Umbra?”  
  
“Yes, Master?” He sits up, careful of his head this time.  
  
“I, uh...I thought you were going to...sleep _close_ to me?”  
  
“Is this not close, Master?”  
  
“I mean, it _is_ , it’s just--” He can’t bear to say the rest aloud.  
  
Umbra’s eyes, citrine yellow, pierce through him. “You are my Master. How may I serve you?”  
  
“I…” Noctis swallows nervously, “want you to come closer.”  
  
“As you wish, Master,” Umbra smiles.  
  
He’s so long that all he has to do is stretch out from the corner of the berth, pushing off from the foot of it, to slide beside Noct. Noct, for his part, has to roll onto his side, so that they are spooning, in order for there to be enough room on the mattress. Umbra lets an arm drape over Noct’s torso, and pulls Noct tightly to him. Noctis almost can’t wrap his head around what is happening. He is spooning _with Umbra_ \-- he is being spooned _by_ _Umbra_ \-- he is _Umbra’s_ _little spoon_. Oh, you know, just cuddling with a magic dog...who is now a human. No big deal.  
  
As he lies there, noticing that Umbra is slightly warmer to the touch than the tent-mates that usually crowd his sleeping space, Noctis thinks that the sensation of being pressed up against another person like this must satisfy some deeply human need. Since Luna died and Iggy was injured, he’s been going to pieces left and right. But with Umbra holding him -- no judgments, no expectations -- Noctis gets the sense of those pieces falling, slowly, back into place. Nothing will ever be the same. But maybe it doesn’t have to be.  
  
He feels Umbra’s soft breathing against the edge of his ear and shudders lightly. The butterflies in his stomach return.  
  
“Master? Is something wrong?”  
  
“What? No, why?”  
  
“I can hear your heartbeat. It is...faster than a human’s should be.”  
  
_Damn those sharp canine senses._  
  
“I’m fine, Umbra. This just feels nice, is all.”  
  
“‘Feels nice.’ Yes. I understand this -- like belly rubs.” He tickles Noct’s stomach lightly for illustrative purposes. Noct squirms, laughing.  
  
“Do you like belly rubs, Umbra?” Noctis asks, once he’s been freed from his tickles.  
  
“Oh yes, Master. And ear scratches.” Umbra nuzzles against the back of Noct’s neck.  
  
“I’ll keep that in mind.”  
  
Noctis smiles, a genuinely comfortable smile, and lets his guardian soothe him -- Umbra nuzzling his neck and snuffling in his ear, and yes, giving him belly rubs -- until he drifts off into a dreamless slumber. It’s the first time since Luna’s death that he doesn’t wake screaming from horrific nightmares of blood and seawater.  
  
When Noctis wakes in the morning, he is sad, but unsurprised, to find that Umbra is gone. Only a few strands of long silver-white hair remain on his pillow, evidence of the evening’s visit. He wraps one hair around his finger like a good luck charm before he exits the sleeper car, hoping it will give him strength as he goes to beg his friends’ forgiveness.


End file.
